The Land of Knowledge

Aurangzeb Alamgir

Aurangzeb (Born 1618; Died 1707), known as Alamgir I, was the 6th ruler of the Muslim Mughal Empire in India from 1658 to 1707. He was the 3rd son of Shah Jahan (builder of the Taj Mahal). Aurangzeb was very pious and led a simple life. Strict adherence to Islamic law was the foundation of his reign. He codified and instituted Islamic law throughout the empire, compiled in Fatawa Alamgiri (33 volumes). His full name was Abu Muzaffar Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir. He had 2 wives, 4 sons and 1 daughter.

From 1634-1658 he was governor of several areas. During his reign many non-Muslims converted to Islam. Jizya, a nominal protection tax on non-Muslims, was reinstated. He memorized the Qur’an, and knitted caps (topis/kufyas) and wrote copies of the Qur’an and sold these. Only these proceeds were used for his burial. He died at the age of 90 and was buried in a modest open-air grave. He did not use public funds for personal expenses or extravagant projects. He left few buildings, save for the Badshahi Masjid in Lahore, once the largest outside Makkah.

He was first to implement Islamic law in a non-Muslim country. He engaged in Jihad till death expanding the empire to its greatest extent into Afghanistan, Pakistan, most of India, parts of Iran and Burma. He prohibited Hindu-inspired practices of former emperors, like lavish celebrations of the Emperor’s birthday, music, court musicians, dancers, singers and art of animate objects.